Latest Badminton News and Articles

KUALA LUMPUR: The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) have chosen not to take seriously the criticisms from Chinese coach Li Mao over their training and coaching programme and also claims of discord in the national team.

United: Men’s doubles pair of Koo Kien Keat (left) and Tan Boon Heong take part in the team’s training yesterday ahead of the Malaysian Open.

The BAM general manager, Kenny Goh, said yesterday that they would not make any changes to their set-up or question their coaches to avoid disruptions to the team's preparation for the Beijing Olympics in August.

“We were shocked with his revelations but Li Mao is entitled to his opinion. We appreciate what he has told but to us, these are all non-issues,” said Kenny.

On Sunday, Li Mao revealed why he left in a huff as the singles coach of the Malaysian national team last January. He is now the coach of the singles players in the South Korean national team.

Li Mao said that the Malaysian singles and doubles players were not united. He was also unhappy with the coaching and training system that did not give powers to the elite coaches to choose back-up players when they needed them.

Kenny said that the BAM had faith in their coaching and training structure.

“It is a well-thought structure. We did not pluck it from the air. We decided on this system after the team's failure in the 2004 Athens Olympics,” he said.

“If this structure were useless, how did our players achieve good results last year? What he said could have happened during his time but we have improved much since then. We have weekly meetings among coaches and the coaching and training committee meet monthly.

“The emphasis is on coaches working as a team and we also stress on unity among coaches and players. Our coaches will continue to work within this structure.”

If there were to be any changes or a revamp of their system, Kenny added that it would only take place after the Beijing Games.

“We do not want our players and coaches to be distracted from giving their focus on the Olympics.

“Right now, we are more interested on our players' performances in the Malaysian Open,” he said.